In 2023, 39 brands including H&M, Kate Spade, and Carhartt unveiled resale programs which, while impressive, is far fewer than in 2022, when 72 brands jumped in, according to ThredUp’s The Recommerce 100, which documents and monitors retailers’ resale programs.

But executives we’ve bumped heads with said 2024 may be the year that resale grows more as a result of the brands expanding their existing resale programs than new brands entering the fray.

They had other predictions, too:

New and resale items will commingle

Gayle Tait, CEO at Trove, which partners with brands to launch their resale programs, recently visited the Boulevard Haussmann location of Galeries Lafayette, France’s upscale department store chain.

On the third floor, she discovered what the retailer calls its (Re)Store department, where it features secondhand items, which bump up against new clothing in your shopping basket, in the dressing room, and in the bag after you pay.

“It’s not like I shop secondhand or I shop new,” Tait told Retail Brew. “It’s that I’m actually able to shop both types of merchandise in a very coherent, very pleasant shopping experience.”

US department stores may not start selling used merchandise anytime soon, but Tait noted that in the US, some retailers already sell used alongside new, including REI and Patagonia.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Nope, not Black Friday. This night’s built more for retailers themselves than the shoppers they serve. It’s time to gear up for bigger and better enterprise solutions by networking with one commerce giant in particular.

We’re talkin’ about Shopify at NRF 2024. From product demonstrations to executive dinners to in-booth workshop presentations, Shopify product leaders, solutions engineers, partners, and SMEs are ready to meet you.

There’ll even be a keynote by Shopify President Harley Finkelstein, featuring BÉIS founder Shay Mitchell and Glossier CEO Kyle Leahy. Get an in-depth, interactive look at Shopify in action with the latest innovations in storefront, checkout, retail, and more, all while meeting big names in commerce.

Ready to connect with Shopify at NRF? Book your meeting today.

In the last few years, big box stores have faced a pandemic, a global supply-chain crisis, elevated inflation, and most recently, excess inventory and cautious consumers. Now 2024 is around the corner, and what challenges will make headlines in the coming months is still a matter of speculation, but industry experts see some clear trends going into the new year.

Back to normal: One is that inventory management is actually starting to normalize. This may sound like old news, considering the slew of articles that came out over the summer declaring that retailers’ excess inventory problems were behind them, but more recent data shows not just a reduction in excess inventory, but a return to a more typical flow of goods.

The Logistics Manager’s Index, a closely watched measure of supply-chain activity, found that inventory levels dropped significantly in November, indicating that retailers were selling off inventory more quickly.

“Nature is healing itself,” Zac Rogers, assistant professor of operations supply-chain management at Colorado State University who helps put together the index, told Retail Brew. “You should have a decrease in inventories in November. That’s part of the steady state of seasonal retail cycles.”

The index also shows both inventory levels and costs steadily declining from 2021, which Rogers attributed to getting serious about reductions.

Keep reading here.—AV

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Jason Holland is chief business officer at Firework, a video commerce platform used by Walmart, L’Oréal, and Mattel.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? You know that feeling you get when entering one of your favorite stores? You take in the space, stroll the aisles, scan the shelves, and get that little lift of excitement that comes with a positive experience? Well, at Firework, my team and I are helping companies enable those experiences and possibilities online, bringing the best aspects of the in-store customer experience to the world of e-commerce.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? Although my title is chief business officer, my role spans practically all functions of the business. In truth, my role is far more akin to that of a global COO who just happens to oversee sales, vendor contracting and negotiation, financial modeling, global headcount and OpEx controls, HR alignment, PR, investor relations—the list goes on. I also serve as a formal partner to Firework’s co-founders, Vincent Yang and Jerry Luk. And knowing all that, I imagine few people would guess that I love every minute of it!

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Believe it or not, it wasn’t a Firework project. In fact, it wasn’t even in my field. In 2015, I discovered my mother was battling stage 3.b. metastatic melanoma, and when faced with these kinds of challenges, you can’t really help but reassess your life’s priorities.

Keep reading here.—EC